Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition User Guide: Design Compilation

ID 683283
Date 9/24/2018
Public
Document Table of Contents

1.7.1.1. Empty Partitions

You can use a design flow in which some partitions are set to an Empty netlist type to develop pieces of the design separately, and then integrate them into the top-level design at a later time. In a team-based design environment, you can set the netlist type to Empty for partitions in your design that will be developed by other designers or IP providers. The Empty setting directs the Compiler to skip the compilation of a partition and use an empty placeholder netlist for the partition.

When a netlist type is set to Empty, peripheral nodes including pins and PLLs are preserved and all other logic is removed. The peripheral nodes including pins help connect the empty partition to the design, and the PLLs help preserve timing of non‑empty partitions within empty partitions.

When you set a design partition to Empty, a design file is required during Analysis and Synthesis to specify the port interface information so that it can connect the partition correctly to other logic and partitions in the design. If a partition is exported from another project, the .qxp contains this information. If there is no .qxp or design file to represent the design entity, you must create a wrapper file that defines the design block and specifies the input, output, and bidirectional ports. For example, in Verilog HDL, you should include a module declaration, and in VHDL, you should include an entity and architecture declaration.